^^lo^m ORANGE CONCENTRATE 



UNDERGOES LABORATORY TEST 



By E. E. ANDERSON and I. S. FAGERSON "= 



FOR MOST AMERICANS, 

 breakfast would not be com- 

 plete without fruit or fruit juice 

 which is expected to provide a 

 major portion of the daily require- 

 ment of vitamin G. 



Attractive advertising themes 

 strongly proclaim that the vitamin 

 C content of frozen concentrate is 

 equal to that of the juice from 

 freshly squeezed oranges. The ad- 

 vertisements, however, do not state 

 the source of the frozen orange juice 

 being compared. Such information 

 is important because poor trans- 

 portation and storage facilities on 

 the part of the producer, whole- 

 saler, and the retailer may cause a 

 reduction in the vitamin G content 

 of the frozen orange concentrate 

 from the level originally present in 

 the freshly concentrated juice. 



Vitamin C Content Varies 



To determine how much the 

 vitamin G content varied between 

 the same and different brands of 

 frozen orange concentrates avail- 

 able to consumers on the retail 

 markets, twenty of the most popular 

 brands of frozen orange concentrate 

 were selected. One six ounce can 

 of each brand was purchased in 



* Assistant Research Professors, Food Technology 



each of six or more cities so that 

 there was a total of at least six 

 samples for each brand. The cans 

 were packed in dry ice immediately 

 after purchase and shipped air ex- 

 press to the laboratory for analysis. 

 Of the twenty brands examined, 

 only five had average values of less 

 than 40 mg. of reduced ascorbic 

 acid per 100 ml. of reconstituted 

 juice, that is, concentrate added to 

 three volumes of water. Only one 

 of the nationally advertised brands 

 fell in this category, the remaining 

 four were less widely known brands. 



Extreme Differences Found 



Within the same brand, the 

 amount of vitamin G varied from 

 30.3 to 49. G mg. per 100 ml. of re- 

 constituted juice to an over-all 

 difference of 28.7 to 51.5 mg., repre- 

 senting the extreme differences be- 

 tween the 20 different brands ex- 

 amined. 



According to the National Re- 

 search Gouncil, a recommended al- 

 lowance of vitamin G for adults 

 should be from 70 to 75 mg. a day. 

 To meet these recommended levels, 

 then, 9}/^ ounces of the reconsti- 

 tuted sample with the lowest vita- 

 min G value or five ounces of the 

 sample with the highest, would be 

 required. 



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